A critique paper by Charlotte May A. Sobrevilla
Netflix's new psychological thriller-romance "You”, directed by Director Lee Toland Krieger based on the Book "Hidden Bodies", discusses the possessive, toxic and dangerous sides of love which is elegantly told in classic narration as they describe what goes on in the mind of Joe Goldberg, the main protagonist of this series. "You" is a 10-episode television series premiered in the United States on Lifetime on September 9, 2018, before being released internationally on Netflix on December 26, 2018. It was revealed in December 2018 that the series would be made available on Netflix as a Netflix Original. On December 26, 2019, the second season was released exclusively on Netflix. The series was renewed for a third season on January 14, 2020, and premiered last October 15, 2021. The series was renewed for a fourth season in October 2021, one month before the third season premiere.
The series is as innocent as it gets with the initial love at first sight theme but then evolves into a much darker and thus more engaging tale. This series takes the cultural trope of boy-meets-girl and successfully turns it on its head by revealing the dangerous underlying obsession behind a contrived relationship. The first season begins with Joe Goldberg, a dangerously attractive and passionately obsessed New York bookstore manager who falls in love with an aspiring writer, Guinevere Beck (AKA 'Beck'). He fuels his toxic obsession by tracking the whereabouts and eliminating roadblocks of people who captivate him, utilizing social media as well as other technology.
Joe Goldberg's childhood trauma explains his peculiar psychology. His life began as a bookish child with a violent, abusive father who threw cigarettes at him and a serially unfaithful mother who routinely abandoned him to meet her boyfriends, whom she believed would save her from her brute of a husband. Joe killed his father when he was nine years old to protect his mother, who assured him that the murder wasn't his fault because he was a good boy on the inside. He's a traumatized man who absolves himself of his crimes because, deep down, he believes he's a good boy. He's also a serial stalker who's obsessive over women, whom he idealizes while fearing their abandonment and being terrified that they'll cheat on him.
This series excellently challenges the views of society on who could be considered as a "Psychopath". Joe has a load of characteristics that would win people over; he's attractive, smart, well-read, and endearing. And it's for this reason that "You" is such a unique take on the subject of obsession. Instead of the traditional morose, solitary weirdo who spends his time in a dirty basement apartment fantasizing about the object of his fixation, the protagonist is a lovable nutcase.
The third season of "You" is the best yet, but Season 4 should be the final season. Sera Gamble and her team of writers have done an amazing job turning Caroline Kepnes' novels into a series that deconstructs rom-com stereotypes for two seasons of You. But after two seasons of that—and far too many innocent dead women left behind—Joe's obsession is nothing new. We can't relate to him or take the show on its own terms because of the show's history of horrible brutality. "You" remains discursively entertaining for its mercenary propensity to plow through tale and lard on setting details. But "You" has lost the plot by attempting to not only humanize but also to defend a character whose monstrosity was his entire purpose.
The series is nothing short of excellent in terms of portraying the possessive, toxic and dark sides of love. Furthermore, we learned in this series that when youth is poisoned by violence and abuse, it can have a massive impact in the child’s adulthood—resorting to psychopathic behaviors like obsession as means to cope from past trauma. Additionally, it is eye-opening to know how we as a society could never judge a person on what good qualities they possess but rather what bad they had done and what they are capable of. “You” has yet to release another season and in no doubt would it be as captivating as its previous releases.
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